Ana Ivanovic crushes Zahlavova Strycova in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open
Former world number one, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia blew away her Czech opponent, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Sunday evening. Ivanovic took merely 64 minutes to outplay her opponent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, booking a berth in the fourth round of the tournament.
It was a magnificent display of sheer class and dominance form the 23-year-old Serb. Ivanovic took hold of the contest from the very first serve game and then orchestrated most of the rallies in the match. Besides some lack of accuracy in the first serve, Ivanovic was outstanding in all segments of the game to bag a comprehensive victory at Indian Wells.
Strycova served well in the contest, reaching 69 per cent accuracy while the Serb opponent followed her with 55 per cent. Ivanovic coughed five double faults in the match but she made the critical difference in the game by bagging 19 of 23 first serve points and 55 per cent of total return points. The 24-year-old Czech wasn’t efficient enough to clinch points on regularity and her bleak baseline defence gave her opponent plenty of chances to belt thudding winners down the line.
Ivanovic started off the contest with 50 per cent first serve accuracy and spilled out five double faults in the opener. Her Czech opponent failed to capitalize on her sloppy start and the Serb got time to reform herself. Ivanovic won 10 out of 12 first serve points in the first set and cracked two early serve breaks to get to a commanding lead of 4-1. Strycova got her chance to break her opponent’s serve and reduce the deficit to 4-2.
The mighty forehand of Ivanovic delivered some cracking cross-court winners to register her third break point to serve for the set at 5-2. The Serbian had an assertive finish to the first set at 6-2, leading the contest with 1-0.
The second set brought no luck for the Czech as her position kept exacerbating in the contest due to her unforced errors and lack of accuracy in her shots. Ivanovic broke early to lead 3-0 in the set and exerted immense pressure over Strycov. The Serb improved her serve accuracy to 61 per cent and won 16 out of 18 serve points with it to consolidate her position in the contest.
Ivanovic broke the Czech’s serve twice and won 34 out of 52 total points in the second set to ensure victory for her at 6-2, improving her head-to-head record against Strycova to 2-0. Ivanovic will be squaring off against the sixth seed compatriot, Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round to book a berth in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. Jankovic defeated 32nd seed German, Julia Goerges 6-2, 6-4 in the third round.
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